The Ministry of Health announced yesterday that it will establish six new specialized centers to deal with tumors and cardiac diseases in the Kingdom within its new budget for this year.
Mohammed Khosheim, deputy health minister for planning and development, said yesterday that it would build three specialized centers for the treatment of tumors in Al-Ahsa, Hail and Jazan regions. He added that with the new addition, the ministry would have 12 such centers throughout the Kingdom.
The deputy minister added that his ministry also has plans to build three more specialized centers in Jazan, Hail and Taif for heart disease, bringing the total number of centers to 20 in all parts of the Kingdom.
Khosheim explained that these new projects came within the framework of the ministry's National Integrated and Comprehensive Care Plan for the Health System. He added that such a national plan envisaged by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and defense minister, ensures planned distribution of health care services to all residents and citizens to reach every nook and corner of the Kingdom.
Explaining the new upcoming projects, the deputy minister said that the tumor centers will have 300 beds costing the government SR400 million, while the cardiac centers that would also have 100 bed each will cost SR360 million.
Khosheim pointed out that the existing specialized oncology centers were in the King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh, King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah, King Fahd Specialist Hospital in the Eastern Province, the Oncology Center in Al-Qassim and Oncology Center in Madinah (under construction).
The specialized cardiac centers are at the Prince Salman Center in Riyadh, the King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh, King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah, Saud Al-Babtain Hospital in the Eastern Province, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Hospital in Hofuf (Al-Ahsa), a cardiac center in Hail, Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Hospital in the northern borders, Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Hospital in Najran, cardiac center in Madinah and King Fahad Hospital in Jeddah.
Kosheim said that establishing specialized centers in all regions will minimize the problems of patients who are referred from one hospital to another. It will reduce their travel time for treatment.
The Ministry of Health also provides a wide range of health care services under its Home Healthcare Program (HHP), which has reached 15,000 patients in their respective homes.
The services are offered to patients who find it difficult to reach a hospital in their neighborhood for specialized treatment. There are 560 health officials who are divided into 180 teams working in the field in all parts of the Kingdom's health regions. These officials are linked to 120 hospitals spread throughout the Kingdom to attend to the health needs of those patients confined to their homes.
A health official said 32 percent of the patients covered under the program suffer from chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiac and renal diseases.
Twenty percent are Alzheimer's and psychiatric patients, 13 percent paralytics, 10 percent suffer from diabetic foot diseases and 2 percent from malignant diseases.
According to a recent NCB report, by 2015 the Kingdom's population will reach an estimated 31.69 million. The growth rate for Saudi nationals will continue to rise, while the proportion of expatriates will increase at a decelerated rate in comparison to previous influxes spurred by economic booms.
The significance of this demographic shift is that Saudis have developed a predisposition to lifestyle diseases that will translate into an expensive medical profile requiring complex treatment over the long-term. This will increase demand for enhanced medical facilities.
MD Rasooldeen - Arab News
